BILL NUMBER: SB 2018	CHAPTERED  09/13/00

	CHAPTER   420
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 13, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 12, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 21, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 22, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MAY 1, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 11, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Schiff

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2000

   An act to amend Section 14202.2 of the Penal Code, and to amend
Sections 6603 and 6604 of, and to amend and repeal Section 6604.1 of,
the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to sexually violent
predators, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 2018, Schiff.  Sexually violent predators:  commitment
evaluations.
   (1) Existing law provides that the Attorney General shall
establish and maintain the Violent Crime Information Center, as
specified, and provides that the Department of Justice, in
conjunction with the Department of Corrections, shall update any
supervised release file available to law enforcement via a specified
information system to reflect the most recent paroled inmates.
   This bill would provide that commencing on July 1, 2001, the
Department of Justice shall also work in conjunction with the State
Department of Mental Health in updating this information system to
reflect patients undergoing community mental health treatment and
supervision through the Forensic Conditional Release Program
administered by the State Department of Mental Health, other than
individuals committed as incompetent to stand trial.
   (2) Existing law provides that a person who is subject to
commitment as a sexually violent predator, as defined, shall be
entitled to a trial by jury, the assistance of counsel, the right to
retain experts to perform an examination on his or her behalf, and
shall have access to all relevant medical and psychological records
and reports.  Existing law provides that the attorney bringing the
petition to have the defendant committed also has the right to demand
a trial by jury, but if no demand for a jury trial is made by either
side, that the trial shall be conducted before a court without a
jury.  Existing law also provides for the examination of a person
subject to commitment under these provisions by at least 2
psychiatrists or psychologists designated by the State Department of
Mental Health, with additional evaluations to be performed as
specified.
   This bill would provide that the attorney bringing the petition to
have a person committed as a sexually violent predator may request
the State Department of Mental Health to perform updated evaluations
as specified, and if an original evaluator is no longer available to
testify, a replacement evaluation.  The bill would direct the
department to perform the requested evaluations and forward them to
the petitioning attorney, but would provide that updated or
replacement evaluations shall only be performed for these specified
reasons.  This bill would provide that an updated or replacement
evaluation shall include a review of available medical and
psychological records, including treatment records, consultation with
treating clinicians, and voluntary or court-ordered interviews with
the subject, and would also provide that if an updated or replacement
evaluation results in a split opinion as to whether the subject
meets the criteria for commitment, the department shall conduct 2
additional evaluations as specified.
   (3) Existing law provides that the court or jury shall determine
whether, beyond a reasonable doubt, a person is a sexually violent
predator, and if the court or jury does so, that the person shall be
committed for 2 years to the custody of the State Department of
Mental Health for treatment and confinement within a secure facility.
  Existing law provides that the person shall not be kept in actual
custody under these provisions for longer than 2 years unless a
subsequent extended commitment is obtained from the court incident to
the filing of a new petition for commitment, or unless the term of
commitment changes as specified.  Existing law also provides that,
until July 1, 2001, this 2-year period of commitment commences on the
date upon which the court issues the order of commitment and shall
not be reduced by any time spent in a secure facility prior to the
order of commitment.
   This bill would clarify that a person may be confined beyond this
2-year period pursuant to the filing of a petition for extended
commitment, which would result in an additional 2-year term of
commitment, and would also delete the automatic repeal of the
provision prohibiting the reduction of the term of commitment for
time spent in a secure facility prior to the order of commitment,
thereby making this provision applicable indefinitely.  This bill
would also provide that evaluations for extended commitments shall be
performed by 2 psychologists or psychiatrists designated by the
department, and that specified existing provisions relating to
commitment evaluation standards and to the rights of the person
subject to commitment shall also apply with respect to evaluations
for extended commitments.
   (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 14202.2 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   14202.2.  (a)  The Department of Justice, in conjunction with the
Department of Corrections, shall update any supervised release file
that is available to law enforcement on the California Law
Enforcement Telecommunications System every 10 days to reflect the
most recent inmates paroled from facilities under the jurisdiction of
the Department of Corrections.
   (b) Commencing on July 1, 2001, The Department of Justice, in
consultation with the State Department of Mental Health, shall also
update any supervised release file that is available to law
enforcement on the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications
System every 10 days to reflect patients undergoing community mental
health treatment and supervision through the Forensic Conditional
Release Program administered by the State Department of Mental
Health, other than individuals committed as incompetent to stand
trial pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title
10 of Part 2.
  SEC. 2.  Section 6603 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   6603.  (a) A person subject to this article shall be entitled to a
trial by jury, the assistance of counsel, the right to retain
experts or professional persons to perform an examination on his or
her behalf, and have access to all relevant medical and psychological
records and reports.  In the case of a person who is indigent, the
court shall appoint counsel to assist him or her, and, upon the
person's request, assist the person in obtaining an expert or
professional person to perform an examination or participate in the
trial on the person's behalf.
   (b) The attorney petitioning for commitment under this article
shall have the right to demand that the trial be before a jury.
   (c) If the attorney petitioning for commitment under this article
determines that updated evaluations are necessary in order to
properly present the case for commitment, the attorney may request
the State Department of Mental Health to perform updated evaluations.
  If one or more of the original evaluators is no longer available to
testify in court proceedings, the attorney petitioning for
commitment under this article may request the State Department of
Mental Health to perform replacement evaluations.  When a request is
made for an updated or replacement evaluation, the State Department
of Mental Health shall perform the requested evaluations and forward
them to the petitioning attorney.  However, updated or replacement
evaluations shall not be performed except as necessary to update one
or  more of the original evaluations or to replace the evaluation of
an evaluator that is no longer available for testimony.  These
updated or replacement evaluations shall include review of available
medical and psychological records, including treatment records,
consultation with current treating clinicians, and interviews of the
person being evaluated, either voluntarily or by court order.  If an
updated or replacement evaluation results in a split opinion as to
whether the subject meets the criteria for commitment, the State
Department of Mental Health shall conduct two additional evaluations
in accordance with subdivision (f) of Section 6601.
   (d) If no demand is made by the person subject to this article or
the petitioning attorney, the trial shall be before the court without
jury.
   (e) A unanimous verdict shall be required in any jury trial.
   (f) The court shall notify the State Department of Mental Health
of the outcome of the trial by forwarding to the department a copy of
the minute order of the court within 72 hours of the decision.
  SEC. 3.  Section 6604 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   6604.  The court or jury shall determine whether, beyond a
reasonable doubt, the person is a sexually violent predator.  If the
court or jury is not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the
person is a sexually violent predator, the court shall direct that
the person be released at the conclusion of the term for which he or
she was initially sentenced, or that the person be unconditionally
released at the end of parole, whichever is applicable.  If the court
or jury determines that the person is a sexually violent predator,
the person shall be committed for two years to the custody of the
State Department of Mental Health for appropriate treatment and
confinement in a secure facility designated by the Director of Mental
Health, and the person shall not be kept in actual custody longer
than two years unless a subsequent extended commitment is obtained
from the court incident to the filing of a petition for extended
commitment under this article or unless the term of commitment
changes pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 6605.  Time spent on
conditional release shall not count toward the two-year term of
commitment, unless the person is placed in a locked facility by the
conditional release program, in which case the time in a locked
facility shall count toward the two-year term of commitment.  The
facility shall be located on the grounds of an institution under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.
  SEC. 4.  Section 6604.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as
amended by Section 7 of Chapter 961 of the Statutes of 1998, is
amended to read:
   6604.1.  (a) The two-year term of commitment provided for in
Section 6604 shall commence on the date upon which the court issues
the initial order of commitment pursuant to that section.  The
initial two-year term shall not be reduced by any time spent in a
secure facility prior to the order of commitment.  For any subsequent
extended commitments, the term of commitment shall be for two years
commencing from the date of the termination of the previous
commitment.
   (b) The person shall be evaluated by two practicing psychologists
or psychiatrists, or by one practicing psychologist and one
practicing psychiatrist, designated by the State Department of Mental
Health.  The provisions of subdivisions (c) to (i), inclusive, of
Section 6601 shall apply to evaluations performed for purposes of
extended commitments. The rights, requirements, and procedures set
forth in Section 6603 shall apply to extended commitment proceedings.

  SEC. 5.  Section 6604.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as
added by Section 8 of Chapter 961 of the Statutes of 1998, is
repealed.
  SEC. 6.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to clarify recommitment and placement procedures to avoid
the possible inappropriate release of sexually violent predators, it
is necessary that this bill take effect immediately.
